WHITEHEAD, Henry Eric (1890-1915)Henry Eric Whitehead was born 13 October 1890, the son of George Henry Whitehead and Agnes Effie nee de Little of Goodwood, Minhamite, educated at Warrnambool College, and then enrolled as a boarder at Geelong College from 1905. He then studied at Ormond College, Melbourne University, where he was a medical student in 1912. He worked at Berry Jerry Station at Wagga Wagga.
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H E Whitehead (War Service).
He enlisted as a trooper (545) with 8th Austalian Light Horse (B Squadron) on 1 January 1915, age 24. He embarked
HMAT A16 Star of Victoria on 25 February 1915, and further embarked from Alexandria on 16 May 1915 for the Gallipoli Peninsula. He wrote to his father on 22 July 1915, shortly before his death:
‘It’s a long time since I heard from any of you last except a letter from Roy a few days ago but it was written on 6th May & as a good many men here have got letters written as lately as the 10th June it was over a month overdue. I got your cable yesterday dated the 10th but don’t know whether you sent it on the 10th of June or July. Can’t remember exactly when I sent mine but we left Egypt in the middle of May & I think I must have sent it a good while before 10th of June. Of course they are sent by boat to & from here to Egypt & so there are plenty of chances of delay. So far I haven’t heard how you are getting along since the rain but have seen by the papers that things are muchly improved. The prices fat stock are buying reads like a page out of Arabian Knights but I don’t suppose you have a thousand fat bullocks on Berry Jerry just at present. I wish an up to date letter would come from one of you – it seems queer not knowing how things are going at home but there’s not much chance of another mail for a fortnight now. I was very lucky getting this writing paper – young Edgar has gone off to the hospital with piles & gave me his paper before he left – it’s as precious as gold over here.
The weather is still awfully hot & the flies abominable & at present nothing but very light clothes are any use – my everyday dress is a singlet cut off at the armpits & a pair of light khaki trousers cut off above the knees. It’s quite sufficient for the day time & a tunic as well is all that’s needed at night if you are on duty. If there’s nothing to do at night I take everything off and put my blanket over me – it’s a bit rough but a change from sleeping in your clothes. The first thing I’ll do when we get back is buy the best pair of silk pyjamas I can find and go to bed for a week. I was on a job last night guarding water tanks and could get a good view of our destroyers down in the bay – every night they come in – switch on their search lights & paste hell into the Turkish trenches. It’s awfully fascinating watching the shells burst under the search light & we enjoy it immensely – of course it’s quite a different matter when they start pasting us but they don’t do much damage compared to the number of shells they fire. I’ve had several burst too damn close to me to be comfortable – one hit the top of the trench within two feet of my head but the corner of the top stopped it from hitting me – got covered with dirt and knocked over by the concussion but never got a scratch at all.
Am getting more used to shells & bullets every day – my nerves went a bit jingley after one bombardment they gave us – I wasn’t too good in the tummy at the time but now I’m perfectly well in both places again & have been so for some time. Have come to the conclusion that to keep fit here you must take an interest in your cooking & eat a lot. I have noticed that any man who gets a bit seedy & won’t eat or bother about anything soon goes off to the hospital but the ones who stick to it & don’t let themselves go are right in a day or two at the most. The better I get at cooking & the more I eat the fitter I keep. Everyone here gets bad in the tummy at times but I keep on taking an interest in tucker & am always right in less than 24 hours & never so bad that I can’t do my turn of duty. Haven’t had any trouble for some time now & wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t ever again.
Have heard that our horses are doing splendidly over in Egypt but personally I don’t care if we never see them again – there doesn’t seem to be much use for mounted men in this trench warfare except patrolling captured country & that would only be sort of playing second fiddle to the boys at the front & altho’ I’d like a good spell right away somewhere I’d like to go to the front again in preference to doing a sort of police job somewhere. Well dad it’s now about 10 am & I have to go on a job at 1 pm & must have a swim and cook my dinner before then. Please give my love to Moth and all the kids. Good bye for the present. Your loving son, Eric’. He was promoted 2nd Lieutenantatn Gallipoli, on the day he met his death. He was killed in either the first or second line of attack at Walker’s Ridge (The Nek) on 7 August, 1915. According to The University of Melbourne Record of Active Service in the European War, 1914-1918, he was to have been transferred to the British Army, but the transfer only reached camp on the day of his death. He has no known grave – his name is recorded on Panel 5, Lone Pine Memorial, Turkey.
A fellow soldier wrote to
Pegasus of his death:
‘Eric Whitehead was killed at the beginning of August, he had done great work, and everyone who knows him over there swears by him.’ His school friend Leslie Norman Hurst wrote to Eric’s father after his death:
‘Just a letter note to express my sympathy with you and the other members of your family in your trouble. At the same time if my turn should come, I hope it will be the way that Eric faced death and met it. There have been some recklessly brave deeds done by our men on Galopole (sic), but that of the 8th LH stands out alone. There was to be a landing of Kitchener’s army at Suvla Bay at the same time a demonstration was to be made along this front to keep the enemy busy here, so that they could not afford to send reinforcements from here to Suvla. The 8th LH were to charge trenches in front of them, and every officer and man knew that it meant certain death to go out.
When the order came to charge they went at it in three lines, never a word of complaint or fear just a determined strike. If ever men faced hell they did, machine guns everywhere poured it into them rifle fire and shrapnel. The first line went down, and the next came on, without a warning, went down, then the third came on in the same spirit and were wiped out, one man out of the lot crawled back wounded. That regiment although they did not take the trenches, did what was intended and kept the Turks there.
The hard part of it is that the Suvla force did not make good - more about them will be told later - but the Censor would not pass this if I wrote what we think of them. However it will keep till some of us get home. Ashmead Bartlett’s account made our blood boil, it was a pack of lies from the start. Eric was one of the most popular fellows in his regiment turned out a hard grafter with rifle, pick or shovel. His career would not have stopped at Lieutenant had he been spared.
When I get a chance I will put a cross, with his name carved on it on his grave, fix everything up in the best way at our disposal here. All those 8th fellows deserve a VC and every man here is proud of them. They made good if any men did. For the last month nothing has happened, in fact everything is terribly quiet, guess there will be something doing before long. I saw Arathusa in September she looks well, and is in good condition. Just hope we can use our horses before long, am dead sick of trench life, but all the same might be a long way worse off.’ Tom Redford (father of Major Tom Redford who died that same day) wrote to Eric’s father on 9 September:
‘I wish to offer you my sympathy. I was hoping that some of Tom’s men at least would come out of that charge but they seem to have been nearly all killed poor chaps. I had a letter from Tom only a few days ago mentioning Eric, and saying what a good soldier he was, and saying he expected he would get promotion before long, as he was very keen. The 8th Light Horse seem to have been sent on an almost impossible job, and failed through no fault of their own. I saw an account of the charge in a Sydney paper which wound up with “The Charge of the Light Horse would always be remembered on account of its sheer bravery and self sacrifice”. They were sent to stop Turkish reinforcements leaving the trenches, which were found too strong to be stormed. You and I have this consolation, we know the boys died as they would have wished, but I’m afraid it will take those who remain at home some long time to forget. Yours, very sincerely, Tom Redford.’ The historian, Charles Bean wrote:
‘I shall never forget that moment. I was making my way along a path from the left of the area and was passing not very far away when (the) tremendous fusillade broke out. It rose from a fierce crackle into a roar in which you could distinguish neither rifle nor machine-gun, but just one continuous roaring tempest. One could not help an involuntary shiver: God help anyone that was out in that tornado.’ To commemorate a final resting place for Eric Whitehead, his family erected a memorial stone over the grave of his deceased mother Effie in the Caramut Cemetery,
‘In loving memory of her dear son, 8th Light Horse Regiment, killed in action on the 7th August, 1915 at Walker’s Ridge, Gallipoli, aged 25 years, 2nd Lieutenant Eric Whitehead' . The Lectern in The Caramut Church of England is dedicated to his memory.
His brother, Roy Ernest Whitehead (1891-1961) was also a boarder at Geelong College.
His sister’s brother-in-law, Trooper Edward Henry Wilson, of B Squadron, 8th Light Horse, was wounded at The Nek on 28 June 1915, promoted 2nd Lieutenant on the same day as Eric, and died of pneumonia at Ismalia on 18 March 1916. He was buried at Ismalia War Cemetery.
Sources: Based on an edited extract from Geelong Collegians at the Great War compiled by James Affleck. pp118-120 (citing The University of Melbourne: Record of Active Service of Teachers, Graduates, Undergraduates, Officers and Servants (1926); Diana Halmarick and Wendy McWhinney, The Whitehead Family on Spring Creek; Photo - Pegasus August 1916.)